FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional needle assembly for use in oriental acupuncture. Referring to FIG. 1, the needle assembly includes a tubular rod member A and a pin member B which is movably installed in the rod member A and can be inserted into the skin S.
In the state where the pin member B is inserted into the rod member A, the conventional needle assembly is sealed and packed.
The conventional needle assembly for use in oriental acupuncture, which is constructed as described above, has the following disadvantages.
In order to perform acupuncture by using the pin number B, the conventional needle assembly is unpacked first. Next, the rod member A is held in the hand and the pin member B is brought into contact with the skin S. Next, an upper end of the pin member B is pressed so that the pin member B is inserted into the skin S.
However, since the pin member B is movably installed in the rod member A, if the rod member A is even slightly oblique to a parallel line P as shown in FIG. 2, the pin member B is abruptly removed from the rod member A.
Accordingly, an operator should be very careful to prevent the pin member B from being removed from the rod member A until the pin member B contacts a patient's body. Despite the operator's care, the pin member B often fails to be placed at a correct acupuncture point on the patient's body due to the mobility of the pin member B.
Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 3, the operator generally performs acupuncture while stopping the movement of a lower end of the pin member B with his or her fingers in order to prevent the removal of the pin member B from the rod member A. Accordingly, if the operator's fingers are infected, the patient may also be infected due to the pin member B that is in contact with the infected fingers. Furthermore, the pin member B should be thrown away after use. However, the pin member B is sometimes used again after sterilization. Accordingly, there is a demand for technology for preventing the reuse of the pin member B.